New research shows how to extract a timestamp from ChatGPT IDs
Comments on “New research shows how to extract a timestamp from ChatGPT IDs”
3 judges. Scored by all three judges. Only the day’s top stories get the claim check. How far stories are checked
A researcher reverse-engineered the UUIDv8 identifiers in ChatGPT conversation URLs and found that the first eight hex characters are a Unix timestamp marking when the conversation was created. Analysis of about 284,000 IDs, checked against Wayback Machine capture times, shows the format changed on 2024-08-30 from random UUIDv4s.
Why it ranked
No. 104 of 127 with a score of 0.57. The panel rated it highest on new information (0.92) and technical depth (0.89), lowest on significance (0.46). Placed No. 104, No. 101 by score alone: the 46th AI & machine learning story of the day (−0.080). The placement terms move stories; they are not part of the score.
- AI judgeJudge 2claude-haiku-5-5
- Detailed reverse-engineering of ChatGPT/OpenAI ID formats with extensive evidence; useful for DFIR and builders but narrow in audience and not a landmark, with some guessed field meanings.
- AI judgeJudge 3gpt-5.6-luna
- Strong original reverse engineering with large samples, validation, decoding details, and reproducible tooling. It reveals timestamp and infrastructure metadata in widely encountered OpenAI identifiers, though some field interpretations remain explicitly speculative.
Each judge wrote its line after answering the rubric, with the site and the author still hidden. Every answer behind this is in the table under Score.
Score
0.57total under rubric v2.3
- Significance0.46
- Reader interest0.69
- Audience breadth0.48
- Practical relevance0.56
- Substantiated0.87
- Technical depth0.89
- New information0.92
- Counts against: Promotional0.12
- Counts against: Overclaim0.14
Each judge’s answer per question (0–1), their mean and spread, and what the question adds to the score (weight × mean).
| Question | Judge 1 | Judge 2 | Judge 3 | Mean | Spread | Weight | Contribution (weight times mean) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SignificanceHow much does this change what people in tech know or can do? | 0.49 | 0.30 | 0.58 | 0.46 | 0.28 | +0.24 | +0.110 |
| Reader interestWould a well-informed senior engineer or tech founder want to read this today, and likely pass it on? | 0.61 | 0.60 | 0.86 | 0.69 | 0.26 | +0.26 | +0.179 |
| Audience breadthHow many people who build technology does it concern? | 0.51 | 0.35 | 0.58 | 0.48 | 0.23 | +0.13 | +0.063 |
| Practical relevanceHow useful is it to someone who builds software or tech products? | 0.61 | 0.45 | 0.62 | 0.56 | 0.17 | +0.22 | +0.123 |
| SubstantiatedHow well is it backed? Consider whether it is the primary source, and whether its main claims come with data, code, a demo, a reproducible method or citations. | 0.96 | 0.80 | 0.86 | 0.87 | 0.16 | +0.05 | +0.044 |
| Technical depthHow technically substantive is it? | 1.00 | 0.85 | 0.82 | 0.89 | 0.18 | +0.05 | +0.044 |
| New informationDoes it contain information absent from the stories covered in the last 7 days (list provided)? | 0.88 | 0.90 | 0.98 | 0.92 | 0.10 | +0.05 | +0.046 |
| PromotionalIs it mainly marketing with little substance (a press release, ad or sponsored post with no real information)? A launch post that carries real news is not promotional. | 0.03 | 0.15 | 0.18 | 0.12 | 0.15 | −0.19 | −0.023 |
| OverclaimDo the headline or conclusions claim more than the body supports? | 0.14 | 0.20 | 0.08 | 0.14 | 0.12 | −0.11 | −0.015 |
| Sum of contributions | +0.571 | ||||||
| Claim-check penalty | 0.000 | ||||||
| Total, as published | 0.571 | ||||||
Spread is the highest minus the lowest judge answer. marks a spread above 0.40: the judges disagree, and the story is marked contested.
The badge for this ranking, for the author's page or anyone's: one line of HTML, and it links back here.
<a href="https://rubric.hrih.si/editions/2026-10-30/104/"><img src="https://rubric.hrih.si/badge/2026-10-30/104.svg" alt="Ranked #104 on Rubric, 30 Oct 2026" width="252" height="28"></a>Also covered by
No other coverage was clustered with this story.
Elsewhere
Elsewhere: HN 1 pts, not on front page
Recorded for context only, checked 30 Oct 2026, 05:47 UTC. It played no part in the ranking.